Step One
by FeelingGravity'sPull
Summary: One business trip changes everything to now seventeen-year old Dipper and Mabel as they are sent once again to Gravity Falls, Oregon for the summer. Mabel, thinking that Dipper might have a chance with Wendy, buys something from a weird old lady that the latter claims can improve their relationship, but as always with Gravity Falls... it didn't go the way it does. First fanfic.
1. Long Time No See

**MABEL**

* * *

><p>Hey-yo! So it's you residential sweater-knitting teenager once again, here to speak out to you, friendly people! It's a-me, a-Mabel! The Mabel Pines! So you might be confused why I said <em>teenagers<em>, amiright? You're used to us being adorable little twelve-year olds fighting supernatural thingamajigs and being all awesome! Well, you're absolute-ally wrong! Surprise, Dipper and I are like, seventeen now! We're not adorable anymore—and I'm kind of disappointed, stupid puberty—but we're oh-so hot! Ha! You can't count how many girls have been like, spying at our house just to get a good glimpse of my brother. Wait, ack—_Dipper_? GIRLS!? Euuggghhhh. Okay, so I'm gonna get you back on that. My brother… actually hot… I can't even…

Kidding. I was joking 'bout that part. Like that'll ever happen.

Man, I am evil! Muwahahahahha!

Ahem—sorry.

Oh, well—we're still awesome. You can't deny that!

Here's the run-down, in case you missed it: We came back to Gravity Falls after Mom and Dad went to a summer-long business trip to Sweden—which, by the way, the best thing ever—and bada bing bada boom, we're here!

The town didn't change much since the last time we got here… Grunkle Stan's still running the Shack, but has a bad case of… Dipper, what is called again—oh right, arthritis. He got new white hairs sticking out of his wrinkly head, but he's still the same old man we know and love. Soos got a new goatee and stuff (and Dipper's asking him a lot about it… how to grow it, maybe?). He's the same old man-child that we love. I mean, it would take a lot to change Soos.

Wendy, however… well, you could say that Dipper's more heartbroken about it than I am.

You see, Grunkle Stan said Wendy quit the job since 'the Shack sucks a lot more without the little dudes around.' Tada! We're here, and not-so-little. Woooo, wait 'till she sees us.

We're in front of the bookstore entrance, and Dipper's like, sweating his face off right now. It's the funniest thing ever! I wish you could see this one. He's like, pacing back and forth in the same place, wringing his hands so much I could swear he wants the skin off his hands. On second thought, I should have brought a camera.

Okay, okay! Moving on.

"Dipper!" I grab him over the arm, stopping him from his pacing. Yeesh, it was a good thing since he's starting to make me dizzy. "Get your male teenage hormones to stop you from getting worked up!"

"It's just…" He raises his arms. "I'm nervous. What if she like, I don't know… flip?"

"_Wendy_?" I spit out. "She's the coolest gal in town! The best! Why would she flip?"

"I don't know…"

"You _don't_ know?" I gasp. "Dipper Pines, the straight-A nerd and the only teenager who got an IQ of a hundred and sixty in the entire state of California, doesn't _know_?"

"Pssht, stop it…" My brother sheepishly scratches his head. "But really, I can't… I just don't know why I'm still nervous."

_Don't know why_. Huh, it's pretty obvious for a girl. Guys are really dense sometimes.

"Obviously, you're still in love with our pretty little Wendy there, Dipster!" I point at him. "It's the truth, Dipper. I can see it."

"Wendy's twenty, Mabel…" It's one of the only times that I see uncertainty in his eyes. Suddenly we're twelve again, poking at him, teasing him about Wendy. _Don't be itchy, man_, Wendy would say. And here I am, practically forcing him into something he isn't sure of. "We still have that awkward three-year age gap going on."

I can see Wendy through the glass doors. She didn't change much the last five years. Her long red hair tumbles at her back in a low ponytail. Over a long-sleeved green plaid shirt is a yellow T-shirt with a drawing of a book printed on it. She obviously looked bored with a magazine to keep her busy.

"Hey, things can change. I think both of us're taller than her, anyway." I shrug. "Wendy will jump right to us."

Dipper rolls his eyes. "Yeah, right."

I open the glass door. Somewhere, a bell jingles softly. "Well?" I gesture for him to come in. "What are you waiting for?"


	2. Bookstore Delivery

** WENDY**

* * *

><p>Oh, hi! So, this is like the first time I've ever done this. Sooo yeah, I'd think you already know me. I'm Wendy. Twenty years, Gravity Falls. So, let's get this over with.<p>

Sorry, feeling a bit groggy right now, like really really… does this have like a censor? For like, vulgarity? It does? Well, can't say it. Disappointing.

Okay, so you should be wondering why I work at the bookstore now, not at the Mystery Shack. Well, about three years ago, I quit the Shack. See bud, you know those twins? Like, the Pines twins? Dipper and Mabel. Yeah. For the past five years, they haven't visited Gravity Falls, and the following years after they left, the Mystery Shack was… quiet. Eerie, even. I've grown so fond of the twins that it's like they've been here for so long… if you'd call three months a long time. It's sad. So like, the Mystery Shack became like a reminder of those two, and I'd get upset to climb the attic, but the little dudes aren't there. It's painful, it hurts. So I tried to distance myself from the Shack as much as possible. I'd remember Dipper's crazy supernatural antics, or Mabel's mani-pedi sessions.

I miss them. So much. And I'd lost hope they'll ever come back.

Working at the bookstore felt like either the greatest decision ever or the worst mistake I made. Sure, I actually get paid _for once_, something you know Stan wouldn't do in a million years. It was quiet, there wasn't weirdness, and there weren't painfully stupid customers that enter. The store's quiet most of the time, since the folks would just read the book or something. But the longing feeling inside my chest grew. Instead of the pain being less, it got worse.

It was weird of me not getting Dipper and Mabel's Californian address, or at least their telephone or cellphone number. My friends have grown incredibly impulsive and stupid over the years (and so do I, to tell you the truth) and been getting themselves in trouble throughout the country. Now that I'm not a fifteen-year old anymore, I knew better than to hang out with them so often. I still come in contact with them though, but it doesn't mean we're close.

So one sultry afternoon, I'm just sitting on the counter, minding my own business. I bury my face in a magazine, trying to distract myself from getting bored. Work was easy, it wasn't laborious. I thought of going home, but then the bell rings.

There's a customer or two, I'm guessing. There are multiple footsteps. But I don't lift my eyes away from the magazine.

A girl's voice pipes in. Sounds seventeen or so, I'm not sure. "Miss?" the girl squeaks.

There's something in her voice that turns me… I don't know… soft? It's weird… maybe vague. Huh, wonder who it is, but sounds like somebody I've been familiar with. But I don't want to embarrass myself, so I still didn't look up. I must be hallucinating.

"Wendy, you could look up for once." The girl pointedly says. I'm about to ask how she knows my name, but then I remember the name tag snapped on my chest. Okay. "Help a person out, maybe?"

Fine. I'll look up. With an irritated scowl, I turn my head to see the persistent girl who's been annoying me for a bit. In less than a second the scowl disappears.

My mouth hangs open. It's like someone just thought of the answer to the problem that I've been having, then smacks that answer to my face and super glues it. Wow.

The girl has long brown hair that's been braided at the sides, then comes down at a solid thick braid that hangs at her side. Pale yellow star-shaped earrings clipped at her ears. She wore a pink sweater with a giant colorful shooting star on it, purple shorts and knee-high deep blue socks decorated with light blue stars. She had leg warmers with a wavy design of light blue, navy blue and purple, which almost cover her pink sneakers. Topped off with pink cheeks and mouth shining with braces.

"Mabel?" I say.

The teenage girl raises her hands in the air. "Surprise! Glad you still remember us!"

The magazine lay forgotten on the counter. Mabel is now imprisoned within my arms. "Oh my gosh! You're here…" It's weird what I'm feeling right now. Relief, happiness… anxiousness? Why? But I ignore it. Must be the adrenaline. "You're really here."

Mabel laughs. It's the same old cheerful, bubbly laugh that I always hear in the Shack. For a second… I thought I might be high. _This isn't real, _my brain says_._ But then I remember that I'm not that stupid.

"It's really me, Wendy." Mabel rolls her eyes. "Just a memo there."

There's still this wide smile playing on my lips… _can't believe…_ _Mabel, here in Gravity Falls, finally_… but then—wait.

"Mabel?" I cock my head to the side. "Where's Dipper?"

"Dipper…" Mabel mumbles. "Dipper's…"

For a second there, my heart skips a beat. _What if—_

Mabel turns around as if there's someone behind her. "Dang it, where are you—Dipper! Dipper, you can't wimp out like that!" She then scours behind a bookshelf. A sigh of relief escapes her lips. "There you are!" She grabs onto something I really couldn't see.

"Mabel, no!" A voice, a bit deeper than what I was used to, pipes up from the shelves. I saw her pulling a dark blue sleeved arm. "I don't want to—"

I giggle. Perhaps I got a bit paranoid there for a second. I miss their antics, and it feel so great to finally see them again, pulling off whatever it is they're pulling. I guess that's how sibling relationships work, but hey, I never been close to my brothers.

When it's clear that I wouldn't see Dipper since he absolutely refuses to show his face from his beloved bookshelf, I scramble over to where Mabel and Dipper was. And once again, my jaw completely abandons its place from my mouth. But this time, there was this weird feeling inside my chest. It was the weirdest thing ever. Ech. So I paid no attention to it.

He changed—a lot. Really man, you can't even… okay, he's still wearing the same pine tree trucker hat that covers his messy brown hair, but he ditched the vest and shorts—finally, that was a bit too dorky for him—and traded it for a dark blue jacket with the sleeves rolled up two-thirds up his arms, and gray pants. The same black sneakers.

"_Dipper_?" I say incredulously.

"Wendy?" I see his cheeks flare up. "H—hi!"


	3. Backing Up

** DIPPER**

* * *

><p>Oh, great. Thanks for the help, Mabel.<strong><br>**

So, hey guys! Dipper Pines here. Mabel insisted that I should tell you guys my point of view too, because I kid you not, she says it's for 'closure'. See that? I'm doing the air-quote thing.

Wendy, where did you leave out the—oh, that's fine. Juuuuuuust _fine_. You guys just _love_ seeing me all flustered and embarrassed, is that it? Okay, but this isn't going to be fun for me.

"_Dipper_?" Wendy says after seeing me getting pulled by my sister. It's an ungodly sight, really. Ugh. I'd wished that I haven't made my grand entrance like that.

"Wendy!" I could feel the heat coming up my face. Great. Less than a hour since we got to Gravity Falls, and I already got embarrassed by my twin sister in front of the woman I've been in love with for so long. "H—Hi!" I manage to choke out.

_You're still in love with Wendy?_ You would say. Hey, it's hard to get over a girl you first had a crush on. Being a Californian, there are a bunch of gorgeous girls (I would begrudgingly admit). Unfortunately, they kept their loyalty to the beach blonde rich girl stereotype. They all reminded me of Pacifica, and it made me sneer in disgust, despite Mabel having some form of friendship with her. Whatever. Wendy isn't like that—and I'm glad she never changed.

Mabel lets go of my arm, which made me tumble to the bookstore floor. Add up another point to the embarrassment meter. "Puberty done Dipper a great service, ya see?" Mabel gestures to me. "No more dorky vests and shorts, and definitely no more to that funny squeaky voice. Hey, I think he sneezes like a lion now…"

_Yeah, right_. A seventeen-year-old guy sprawled on the floor, cheeks red and sweating like I'm in a hundred degree afternoon in the Sahara. Totally good-looking.

It's not a secret to anyone that I'm head over heels for Wendy, and it's probably not a secret to Wendy either that I still do. It's pretty obvious.

"Hey, kiddo." Wendy outstretches her hand. "You know, standing up's better."

I take the hand gratefully, though one of the words stings me.

_Kiddo._

I try not to look hurt, not to cry.

She still thinks I'm a kid. Forever behind that wretched three-year-old age gap. My all-ready present frown deepens. Suddenly, I'm back to being a twelve-year-old again, sitting on the log outside the bunker beside Wendy. Fresh from our experience with the Shapeshifter, but Wendy told me I was too old for her. I was twelve, she was fifteen. Cross the line from there.

_Friends?_ She held out her hand, expecting me to shake it.

I faked a smile. _Friends._

She punches me off the log, albeit playfully. But the pain inside me lingered.

I hoped that someday we'll get beyond that, but I guess I made a mistake. Maybe it was wistful thinking. _Why even hope?_

Fortunately, Wendy doesn't seem to notice my sad interior. She hugs me, and I feel compelled enough to return the favour. She pulls away, then lands a punch on my arm.

"Ow!" I yelped in pain.

"Guys!" Wendy gives both of us a steely look. "Why haven't you like, I don't know, made contact with us! Like, even for _once_?"

"Uh..." I nervously twiddle my fingers. "This is going to be a long story."

"It's fine," Wendy gestures for me to get on with it. "As long as I understand."

I take a deep breath. "Okay, but don't tell me I didn't warn you."

* * *

><p><em>Okay, so when we got back to Piedmont five years ago, our parents were ridiculously mad at Grunkle Stan. Like, really really mad. Mom and Dad seemed like nice people, (and they actually are, trust me) but you should never see them angry. I can't remember much of the original conversation from five years ago, so I think it went something like this.<em>

_"MABEL! DIPPER!" Mom's shrill voice echoed through the house. In fact, it was so loud that Dad had to cover up his ears. Really Mom, really. _

_ "What is it, Mom?" Mabel asked as soon as we got down the stairs. We saw Mom gripping the phone angrily, and her face was so red that her ears could be billowing smoke. Frankly, you could never tell._

_ Mom stared at us with her cold steely eyes. "Is it true?" She practically slammed the phone down, which made us cringe._

_ "True what?" I worded it out carefully._

_ "You've been imprisoned for counterfeiting money? And you've been banned from every single store in Gravity Falls? Kids, is this true?"_

_ Mabel and I nervously looked at each other. There wasn't a point in lying, (which we both know would make everything worse) so we muttered a barely audible, "yess…?"_

_And so the door was shut._

_ For years, every summer… we begged Mom to take us back to Gravity Falls. Dad was pretty much okay with it (despite the circumstances), but whenever we brought Gravity Falls back up, she would scowl and drop it. And every summer, I'll terrified that I'll forget Gravity Falls… up until about yesterday._

_ Since Mabel and I are teenagers now, Mom thought that we should have separate bedrooms, because how awkward would it be if we didn't? But every once in a while Mabel will come over to my room or she'll come over to mine. _

_Fast forward yesterday, nine in the evening. We were in my room. My room is pretty simple, posters and researches taped to the wall, journal 3 on my cluttered desk. Mabel and I were sitting on the bed talking about while she was listening to music... eh, something, it was hard to talk and listen to music at the same time—honestly, I can't remember the conversation when the door slammed open. Mom was there in the doorway, looking as if she lost an argument._

_"Kids," she clasped her hands together. "Pack your bags."_

_ We both stared at her in confusion._

_ Mabel took one of her rhinestone-studded earphone out of one ear. "What for? We don't have any family trips or anything—"_

_ "Your father and I…" she tried for a smile, but ended up giving up. "well, he has a business trip and he let me come along, but—ah…"_

_ I knitted my eyebrows together. "Well, what about it, Mom?"_

_ "It's…" she sighed in defeat. "The business trip'll be in Sweden and it will eat up through the entire summer… no one can take care of you kids while we're there."_

_ "Mom, we're seventeen!" Mabel looked at her. "We can take care of ourselves. We're not kids anymore."_

_ "But I'm still worried about you ki—" she stopped herself from saying _kids_ again. "Mabel, Dipper… as a mother, it's hard leaving your children behind, and since we're… not available, I'm going to have to send you somewhere else."_

_ My heart hammered fast. _She couldn't be…

_ From her purse, she took out two pieces of… cards, maybe? Mom then put them gingerly on my bed. "You know that I don't like him looking after you, but I'm afraid I have no choice," she then turned her back on us. "And frankly, you'll like it there better, anyway."_

_ She shut the door softly and left._

_ I reached out for the cards-something-or-other that she'd put on my bed. I put it closer to my face to examine it a little more. There were words printed on it, and when I read it, a grin started growing on my face._

_ "Oooh, you're happy." Mabel said in her usual cheery tone. "SO! What are those things?"_

_ I showed the cards to her. "Mabel, these are bus tickets." I emphasized the last two words to her, holding out the said tickets._

_ "_Bus tickets?!_" She squealed in delight. "Don't she mean that—"_

_ "Mabel!" I shook her shoulders vigorously, the smile reaching up to my ears. "We're going back to Gravity Falls!" I jumped from my be_—__

* * *

><p>A click rings out from somewhere.<p>

"Whoops, story time's over." Wendy nonchalantly removes her name tag then digs it deep into her shorts pocket. "Ooh, there goes my shift." She smiles.

She goes back to the counter and opens a door. "Hey, Craig!" She calls. "My shift's up, it's time for you to get out there."

There's a guy inside, who makes a grunting sound. "Wendy, it's my lunch_—_"

"A couple of ol' friends visited, haven't seen them in five years," Wendy continues. "Is that a good enough reason for you to let me go?"

Another grunt. "Fine."

Wendy grins. "Great." She unchains some keys hanging at her belt. She holds it up in front of us. "Pile up to the Mystery Shack, shall we?"


	4. Stocking More

**MABEL  
><strong>

* * *

><p>I really don't have to put it into more detail, do I? So we got back to the Shack, nothing unusual, and it was pretty uneventful. Dipper didn't peep a sound, Wendy's concentrated on her driving, and I was staring out the window, watching lush trees and groves move by.<p>

That was an hour or two ago. Now, I don't think they like me for the moment.

Or maybe they're too busy, I don't know exactly. Maybe because of the Peach Soda Caper?

Don't know what I'm talking about. Ho-hey, you're lucky.

Anyway, here's the thing: immediately after we got to the Shack, we had a drinking party, but the Shack eventually ran out of Pitt Cola—both the fridge and the vending machine. We were all parched out, so I moaned, "I wanttt soooddaaaaa…"

"You _do_ realize that you're the reason why we ran out, right?" Dipper accused from the counter, then pointed over the spot that I've been sitting. I looked at the area where all the soda cans should have been. A bunch of empty cans and some spat out peach pits.

_Oops._

Okay, that was a bit gross on my part, but hey! I was thirsty, man! You'd say that I should have some water, but _no!_ I absolutely refuse. Ordinary water's lame at the moment, I need something more than that.

"If you want soda, then you better head out," Wendy said from the fridge. "Besides, you're not the only one who's parched."

"Me?" I pointed at myself. "I'm the one who needs it."

"You're the one who needs it," Wendy repeated. After a few milliseconds, she dug out some fistful of dollars. "Buy some from the store… maybe a few cans? No, make it two to three six-packs. We're growing here, man."

* * *

><p>So that's how I got here in the store.<p>

Pitt Cola cans were so... few. No six-packs. I'm a bit worried, so I ask the cashier lady if they have any six-pack Pitt Colas.

"Oh yes, sweetie!" The cashier kindly says, "at the back, over there. They're still in the boxes, but the tape's been cut. Get whatever you want from there."

The lady's so nice! At least, nicer than the Summerween Superstore lady that banned us from her store. "Thank you!" I say then head over to where the lady pointed.

Beside the ice cream freezer there are a bunch of cardboard boxes that look pretty heavy. They are set haphazardly next to the freezer, but my eyes brighten when I saw the label on the boxes. Printed in a pale red color, the box reads: _Pitt Cola - Six-Pack Supply - Three Pack Capacity._

_Yes. Come to me, my babies!_

I lick my lips hungrily. I just want to go home and just fill myself with soda, so I go head and pick up the entire box. Hey, it comes cheap! What's wrong about that? I think that it's a good deal. At this point you'll all think I'm sort of some crazy soda lady, but, eh—no. I'm just obsessed with it right now.

Uh-oh. Think there's a heat wave acting on me.

So I head on over to the cashier and just slam the box on the counter. The cashier lady eye me curiously, but she just scans the bar code and put the whole box in a plastic bag, then I surrender the cash.

I'm hurrying home as fast as I can and get the drinking party started, but then I notice a cute line of kiosks lining up on an adjacent lot right now. Colorful stands that begs to attract some people. Some of the store owners are with familiar faces, others I don't recognize from before. I look up the sign that's been hanging from a pair of light posts.

_**Gravity Falls Swap Meet **_  
><em><strong>Where people exchange money for almost useless things<strong>_

Ummm... the sign's kind of too... straightforward, isn't it?

Wendy and Dipper wouldn't mind me strolling around here for a while, would they?

I just shrug.

Yeah, whatever.

I enter the lot. Colorful lanterns hang above, clinging to strings tied to other lamp posts. The vendors are smiling kindly, desperately, menacing... but I don't want to leave. At least, not yet.

"Ooooooh!" I mutter. I always thought that Gravity Falls's a bit... not productive. Anyway, there are a lot of things here, just waiting to be bought! Wet blankets (I really don't know what to do with those, maybe if you want to be wet _and_ dry at the same time?), wind chimes (ooh, those would be lovely for the Gift Shop entrance!), and other stuff. Despite the sign, I don't really think _some_ of the products are useless. Although it just depends on the person, anyway. People here and there call out for potential customers, almost (yeah, _almost_) tempting me to buy some of their stuff.

"May I help you?"

"Are you interested in something?"

As I go further into the lot, the people start to get more and more desperate, calling out at me and other innocent people to buy their stuff. Hey, if you want to get rid of your products, why bother even starting up a store even thought you know people wouldn't buy them? Kind of like a half-anti-Mystery Shack, I guess.

"Please buy _something_!"

_"I want to get these wet blankets out of my hands!"_

Okay... that is a bit unexpected.

But there's this one voice that sticks out from the rest.

"Hello there, missy! Mind if you could at these?"

I raise my eyebrows. I turn around to see an old lady. Warts, wrinkles, whatever things old people have on their faces are abundant on her. She has really weird greenish skin, long white hair, and a dark red cloak (she's really familiar, I think Grunkle Stan told us about her a long time ago... something about hands?). In front of her is a small stand containing all sorts of products that are so randomly put together. Anyway—some gold watches (I might buy some for Grunkle Stan—remind me of that), a few weird bubbly... things, some liquid in bottles that's glowing, and other stuff I can't think names of.

"So, honey..." The lady spreads out her scraggly hands on her products. "See something that might catch your eye?"

I trace my fingers on some of the bottles. A few of them contain sludgy, sickly dark liquid, others have glowing neon green, bubbly pinks, or sky blues. I pick up a peculiar-looking number. Dark red, sludgy, and really really... suspicious looking. There's a tag sticking out from the neck of the bottle, and as I examine it, it had nothing written on it except the price and crudely-drawn drawing of a heart.

"Um, miss?" I hold up the bottle for her so she can get a good look at it. "What does _this_ do?"

"Oh, that?" The old lady scoffs, "it's nothing much, my dear Mabel. It just improves the drinker's relationship with another."

Okay, I don't get it. "How does that work?"

"Oh! Simple!" The lady exclaims. "Just chug it down, or if you can't take the stench or the taste, mix it up with some food or drink you like, something like that."

"So it's a love potion?"

"Love potion?" The lady snatches the bottle from me. She takes a closer look at the tag. "Oh no Mabel, that's merely a misconception. Heart equals love! Hmph, blame the Love God for this..." She looks at me. "Dear, it's not a love potion. Love potions are too cliché to brew nowadays."

I raise an eyebrow. "So it's_ not_ a love potion?"

"It's not! Like I said, it's just something that improves a relationship!" The lady almost sticks the bottle to my face from holding it too close. "So! Are you gonna buy it or not?"

I smile. Improves a relationship, huh?


End file.
